The Future Of Dating Is Going To Look Like Pandora And Grindr

We are entering an age of data-driven dating, where our phone
will be our wingman when we are roaming about.

While Internet dating used to conjure up images of geeks sitting
at home scrolling through hundreds of profiles, the latest slew
of mobile apps allows us to check-in and pick-up from wherever we
are.

We got a taste of the different flavors in mobile dating at AOL's
Mobile Monday session. At times during the panel, the future
of dating sounded more like a transaction -- sucking every bit of
sexiness out of the room.

The popularity of Grindr, an app that helps gay men find nearby lovers, shows the
power of combining location-based apps and dating.

So far, there have been 3
million downloads in 192 countries -- making it the
largest all male location-based social network, according to the
Grindr blog. (The company came out with Blendr for the rest of
us.)

Grindr is just one of the many dating apps echoing Pandora's
music recommendation platform, suggesting there is an algorithm
for love.

One of the panelists, Sophie-Charlotte Moatti, co-founder and CEO
RndVoo, showed me her app
after the discussion. It is a matchmaking service that
matches friends of friends and gives personalized date ideas to
try in the real world. Using artificial intelligence and computer
vision, the dating app wants to help you find and build a
meaningful relationship.

Moatti said RndVoo can connect with Facebook and reach 86 percent of the
single population.

"Mobile devices are much more personal in nature, and have
access to more personal data – both passively and actively.
Mobile dating products that will be successful moving forward
must find the right balance between utilizing this information to
bring additional convenience and value to their customers --
without sacrificing privacy," Paddon said.

That last point about privacy shouldn't be taken lightly.
"Combining mobile dating with broadcasted locations may be
suitable for some specific demographics, but won’t get mass
appeal anytime soon – and is a concept fraught with liability,"
Paddon added.

Is mobile dating something we should wholeheartedly
embrace, or is it a cause for concern?

OkCupid cofounder Sam Yagan wrote in an email to us: "Mobile
dating is the future of dating. Period. Think about it. Dating is
one of the few applications of technology that pretty much
requires an in-person meeting for success. Amazon can send your item from a warehouse in
the middle of nowhere, but your date sure as heck better be close
to you. And not just close to you sometimes, close to you...now."

But what if you're just not in the mood for that? I guess you can
always just turn off your phone.